Shivaji and His Times c17.s3.2

c17.s3.2

The core of his army was, therefore, formed by 30 to 40 thousand regular and permanently enlisted cavalry in his own service, and about twice that number of infantry militia (hasham), whom he used to withdraw from the cultivation of their fields during the campaigning season only, as in England under King Alfred. The infantry garrisoning his forts were permanently recruited, though they were given fields in their neighbourhood. The number of the silahdars who hired themselves and their horses out to him varied greatly from year to year, according to his need, their expectation of plunder in the impending campaign, and the demand for their services in the neighbouring States at a particular time. In the earlier stages of his career, local chieftains with their retainers used to join him in his raids (e.g., Surat, 1664) and swell his army by the adhesion of a body of irregulars. The same thing happened in his invasion of Madras (1677.)